1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system and, more particularly, to an image forming system and image forming apparatus for forming a hard copy of an image or the like captured by, e.g., a digital camera.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a system in which an input image from a digital input device such as a scanner, digital camera, or the like is printed via a host such as a personal computer (PC) is known. In such system, the host has drivers for independently controlling the digital input device and printer. For this reason, an input from the digital input device is saved as data in the format which is easiest to use and display on the host. Upon printing, the user observes the state of the saved image and selects a proper printing control method or image processing method.
For this reason, if the host can cope with color image data, even a monochrome sensed image is saved as a color image and is unwantedly printed using color inks. Also, even a low-resolution image such as a thumbnail image is printed in a high-quality mode depending on its saving condition. In this manner, since image data is saved in the format suitable for the host, an image formed based on the saved image data becomes different from the input one, and consequently, extra processing that is not required originally must often be performed. Furthermore, when an input image is saved in the host, extra processing for converting it into a format suitable for the host is required.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned prior art, and has as its object to provide an image forming system and image forming apparatus, which can output an image under the condition suitable for the input condition of that image, thus quickly outputting an image with higher quality.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming system and image forming apparatus, which build a system that can efficiently execute such image forming control.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image forming system and image forming apparatus, which have novel functions.
In order to achieve the above objects, an image forming system of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
That is, an image forming system comprises:
an electronic device having
recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, and
reproduction means for reproducing the image recorded by the recording means; and
an image forming apparatus having
image forming means for forming an image under a given image forming condition, and
setting means for setting the image forming condition in accordance with the image sensing condition.
Alternatively, an image forming system comprises:
an electronic device having
recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, and
reproduction means for reproducing the image recorded by the recording means;
an image forming apparatus having
image forming means for forming an image under a given forming condition, and
setting means for setting the forming condition; and
mediation means for mediating the image sensing condition and the forming condition set by the setting means.
Or, an image forming apparatus used together with an electronic device having reproduction means for reproducing an image recorded by recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, comprises:
image forming means for forming an image under a given image forming condition; and
setting means for setting the image forming condition in accordance with the image sensing condition.
In addition, an image forming apparatus used together with an electronic device having reproduction means for reproducing an image recorded by recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, comprises:
image forming means for forming an image under a given forming condition;
setting means for setting the forming condition; and
mediation means for mediating the image sensing condition and the forming condition set by the setting means.
Also, an image forming method for forming an image in accordance with an image signal from an electronic device having reproduction means for reproducing an image recorded by recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, comprises the step of:
setting an image forming condition of image forming means in accordance with the image sensing condition.
Lastly, there is provided a storage medium for storing a computer program for forming an image in accordance with an image signal from an electronic device having reproduction means for reproducing an image recorded by recording means for recording an image sensing condition of a target image together with the image, the program including the processing step of setting an image forming condition of image forming means in accordance with the image sensing condition.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.